California Study Doesn't Find Impacts From Fracking, But Focuses on Potential Dangers
From the Los Angeles Daily News:
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The study found that while there is little evidence of widespread negative health and environmental effects directly related to fracking, there are huge gaps in record-keeping and data necessary to understand whether the practice is causing small earthquakes, contaminating future drinking water supplies and injuring nearby residents.
Oil producers, it says, should not be allowed unlimited use of hazardous chemicals because there are hundreds of harmful substances being injected underground without study.
What’s more, the federal government is allowing oil producers to discharge fracking and other well-stimulation discharge into the ocean and isn’t keeping accurate records on those discharges. The first federal study on well-stimulation methods, released last month, found that the practices are largely safe but that there is insufficient data to truly know whether damage to the environment and human health is taking place.
“We should be looking for the direct impacts and preventing them with precautionary measures,” Long said. “All chemicals should be revealed. We should know the toxicity and environmental profiles for all of them and work corroboratively with the industry on how to reduce them.”Click here to continue reading.
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